Official 2023 Wizards OFFSEASON Thread

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Not line ups, just assessing our assets before free agency.

PG Tyus Jones, Marcus Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff, Mike Muscala

Who am I missing?

I thought we got Boston's #35 pick in last night's draft via the KP trade. See https://theathletic.com/4629520/2023/06/22/nba-trade-grades-smart-porzingis-celtics-wizards-grizzlies/

"...This trade has Porziņģis, the 25th pick in Thursday’s draft and a 2024 first-round pick (via Golden State) heading to Boston; Smart going to the Memphis Grizzlies; and the Wizards adding Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and the 35th pick in Thursday’s draft."

Wait... apparently we traded the pick to the Bulls. But, for what?

I believe multiple future 2nds.

[mhd]

Not line ups, just assessing our assets before free agency.

PG Tyus Jones, Marcus Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff, Mike Muscala

Who am I missing?

I thought we got Boston's #35 pick in last night's draft via the KP trade. See https://theathletic.com/4629520/2023/06/22/nba-trade-grades-smart-porzingis-celtics-wizards-grizzlies/

"...This trade has Porziņģis, the 25th pick in Thursday’s draft and a 2024 first-round pick (via Golden State) heading to Boston; Smart going to the Memphis Grizzlies; and the Wizards adding Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and the 35th pick in Thursday’s draft."

Wait... apparently we traded the pick to the Bulls. But, for what?

Two future 2nds.

[Hibachi_0]

Seeing that the team is already overcrowded, and that seems we drafted what we wanted to, changing a 2nd now for two in the future is fine to me.

[pcbothwel]

...I'm pretty excited about Phoenix pick swaps in 2026, 2028 and 2030. Durant will be gone by then, Beal will be in decline and very expensive;and their depth will be terrible.

100%.

Plus, from this & other moves, I get the sense that these guys have a truly long-term perspective. No bandaids. No pretend fixes. They are putting down a real foundation. Good stuff.

My Big holdup about the Beal trade was I thought the pick swaps were 2024 & 2026...But getting 2028 and 2030 is big.
That said, they are already swapping their 2028 pick with Brooklyn & Philly.... so the swap may be the lowest of the 3.
So... Probably not happening

[leswizards]

I may very well be optimistically delusional, but I think this team actually has the potential to be better than the past 2 years.

Danilo Gallinari is old and coming off an injury, so I don’t really know what to expect from him, but even if he only returns to a fraction of his old production, he is still a huge upgrade over Kyle Kuzma.

Jordan Poole was not very good last year. According to basketball reference, last year the majority of his minutes were as a pg. in the 2 prior seasons when he had very good seasons, the majority of his minutes were as a shooting guard. I have to imagine that with the Wizards most if not all of his minutes will be as a sg. If this results in his production returning to his seasons prior to last, at the very least the wizards have gotten a wash out what they got from Bradley Beal, and maybe even an improvement.

According to basketball reference, about 35 to 40 percent of Corey Kispert’s minutes has been as a sg. The Wizards are so loaded with guards, I have to imagine that Corey will play almost no sg this season. I think that will help his production.

Currently, 3 of the Wizards 4 best players are all pgs. (Morris, Wright, Jones and Gafford). I have to imagine that 1 or 2 of them will be traded for a pf or c. Whatever they bring in return should mitigate the loss of kp.

[doclinkin]

Ok redone:

PG Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, Anthony Gill
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff

2-Way: Quenton Jackson

(Mike Muscala is a team option contract. I doubt they pick it up).

[leswizards]

Ok redone:

PG Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, Anthony Gill
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff

2-Way: Quenton Jackson

(Mike Muscala is a team option contract. I doubt they pick it up).

Isn’t jay huff a 2 way as well?

[doclinkin]

We've got both Gill and Quentin Jackson!

With 19 players, even assuming that Big V. gets stashed for a season, there will have to be some trades or buyouts just to get down to the league maximum of players.

Right. Even with Muscala gone and Huff/ Q-Jack on 2 way contracts, we are over the max. We do still have a 2-way slot open now that teams can carry 3.

But still, it only has to work out before the season. With free agency yet to shake out, teams don't yet know what holes they have in their roster. I think our most desirable assets are our PG contingent. I'm curious to see what we do with them.

[doclinkin]

Ok redone:

PG Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, Anthony Gill
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff

2-Way: Quenton Jackson

(Mike Muscala is a team option contract. I doubt they pick it up).

Isn’t jay huff a 2 way as well?

Looks like you're right.

[WallToWall]

We are rather thin at PF and C. Perhaps one or both PGs (Morris, Wright) plus ballast get moved for a PF or C.
The amount of changes are great. Let see if these lemons make lemonade. Quite the start to a rebuild.

I really have no idea what draft picks we have in the future. Does anyone? If so, post it.

[doclinkin]

Interesting. Looks like our total salaries are only $112,525,717 which puts us under the cap by ~$23 million. However! WIth the 90% provision in the new CBA we wouldn't get any of the $$$ that the over-capped teams pay in penalties unless our total salaries are at least $122.4m. So whatever we do, I fully expect us to add ~$10m in salaries before the start of the season.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Ok redone:

PG Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, Anthony Gill
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff

2-Way: Quenton Jackson

(Mike Muscala is a team option contract. I doubt they pick it up).

The problem with that team is that it might win a game a week or so... I fully expect the FO to offload anyone (like Tyus, Monte and Delon) that could help us win.

The plan is becoming more clear to me in terms of priorities, mostly centered on accumulating #1s:

1. Lose a lot over the next 2-3 years to push off or stop the Knicks pick from conveying and to maximize our draft slot.
2. Accumulate cap room for BOYD contracts attached to picks.

[payitforward]

Ok redone:

PG Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, Anthony Gill
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff

2-Way: Quenton Jackson

(Mike Muscala is a team option contract. I doubt they pick it up).

1. Huff is not on the team. He had a 2 way last season, but he doesn't at present (not to say we won't pick him up)
2. Are you sure about Muscala being a team option? That's not how it looks at https://www.spotrac.com/nba/washington-wizards/cap/
3. Even if he is, I imagine they'll pick up his contract if they think he's tradable.

Actually, that's a key point: I would imagine they'll try to trade Gallinari, Muscala, at least one of Morris/Wright, probably Gill as well. OTOH, you'd think that anyone young or close to young (Cooks?) will get a chance to show something.

A while to worry about all that -- especially given these guys' current pace: they might turn over 1/2 the roster before the season starts!!

[doclinkin]

Ok redone:

PG Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Delon Wright
SG Jordan Poole, Landry Shamet, Johnny Davis, Ryan Rollins
SF Corey Kispert, Danilo Galinari, Bilal Coulibaly, Patrick Baldwin Jr.
PF Deni Avdija, Xavier Cooks, Anthony Gill
C Daniel Gafford, Tristan Vukcevic, Jay Huff

2-Way: Quenton Jackson

(Mike Muscala is a team option contract. I doubt they pick it up).

The problem with that team is that it might win a game a week or so... I fully expect the FO to offload anyone (like Tyus, Monte and Delon) that could help us win.

The plan is becoming more clear to me in terms of priorities, mostly centered on accumulating #1s:

1. Lose a lot over the next 2-3 years to push off or stop the Knicks pick from conveying and to maximize our draft slot.
2. Accumulate cap room for BOYD contracts attached to picks.

No fear. Coaching staff will be under a mandate to let the kids play through their mistakes. Put one skilled PG or other Vet out there to direct the action so they learn how to play /where to be, then do a full puppy dump and play only rooks and 2nd year players.

Say:

Tyus -- the best of 3 high quality back-up point guards on our roster
Davis -- working out his struggles
Bilal -- baby giraffe with a little bit of an outside shot, a bit of an understanding of defense, nice length, too skinny right now
Cooks -- scrappy undersized poor man's Deni Avdija
Vukcevic -- long range rookie C

They will try hard. Learn as they go. But this team is fully capable of landing in the lotto even as currently constructed.

[doclinkin]

Are you sure about Muscala's contract -- that's not how it looks at https://www.spotrac.com/nba/washington-wizards/cap/

If they think Muscala is tradable, I imagine they'll pick up his contract.
Actually, that's a key point: I would imagine they'll try to trade Gallinari, Muscala, at least one of Morris/Wright, probably Gill as well. OTOH, you'd think that anyone young or close to young (Cooks?)will get a chance to show something.

A while to worry about that -- especially since at these guys' current pace they're likely to turn over 1/2 the roster before the season starts!!

You are correct. In order to trade Muscala, Boston had to pick up his option. My bad. He is guaranteed this year. So, more trade fodder.

[TGW]

I would have Gallo as backup 4, Doc. He doesn't have the lateral movement to play the wing. He's a stretch 4 (and has been for most of his career). I would probably say the same for PBJ.

[Gig18]

It's still early. But it does feel like a very random assortment of players.

Unseld has to be feeling like he got hit with a wet fish so far...

[payitforward]

The problem with that team is that it might win a game a week or so... I fully expect the FO to offload anyone (like Tyus, Monte and Delon) that could help us win.

The plan is becoming more clear to me in terms of priorities, mostly centered on accumulating #1s:

1. Lose a lot over the next 2-3 years to push off or stop the Knicks pick from conveying and to maximize our draft slot.
2. Accumulate cap room for BOYD contracts attached to picks.

Well, we'll certainly lose a lot. That's what happens if you decide to rebuild in a thorough way & with a goal to contend for -- to win! -- a title!

No fear. ... But this team is fully capable of landing in the lotto even as currently constructed.

Uuunhhh, yeah I'd say so!

[gesa2]

It's still early. But it does feel like a very random assortment of players.

Unseld has to be feeling like he got hit with a wet fish so far...

Low expectations often = job security
Also less headstrong vets ( ignoring Poole here to make my point ) allows him to try and mold the team to his core philosophies

[doclinkin]

I would have Gallo as backup 4, Doc. He doesn't have the lateral movement to play the wing. He's a stretch 4 (and has been for most of his career). I would probably say the same for PBJ.

Gallo was SF for most of his career, but yeah now, especially post injury, I'll give you that. He's also likely irrelevant since the team will be developing youth more than trying to rehab an injured veteran. If he shows anything good they will try to flip him to someone who needs him. Otherwise playing him significant minutes is probably not what the FO will expect of the coaches.

He did used to be a surprisingly crafty defender, and can tutor other ranged forwards on how to move off the ball, if he can look forward to the next phase of his career maybe he becomes a coach on the bench.